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Image provided by: East Hampton Library
THE EAST HAMPTON STAR, EAST HAMPTON, N.Y., SEPTEMBER 8, 1977 ELEVEN Vroom! Vroom! More than 300 motorcyclists occu pied the Bridgehampton Race Track over the three-day Labor Day week end, competing in 30 different classes in 16 separate races. Several hundred fans watched Saturday’s practice runs and heats as well as the last two afternoons of competition. Mike Baldwin of Darien, Conn., won the Formula One—750cc event on his Yamaha OW-31, averaging one minute and 47 seconds for one lap around the 2.8-mile track. He captured the $100 prize. In a junior race, the Formula Two—250cc Gran Prix, Eric Brennan of Park Ridge, N.J., won the $60 first prize on his Yamaha TA-250, averaging 1:59 per lap. The second and third- place finishers also recorded the same per-lap average, but Brennan crossed the finish line first. In an all-women event, “The Ms- Match,” Sandy Hines of New Jersey overcame the scrapes and bruises sustained in a practice-run spill, not to mention a few broken toes, to win the trophy with a 2:15 per-lap average. Sunday’s four-hour “Enduro” was taken by the team of Arthur Robinson and Bob Miller, both of Hamden, Conn., on a Kawasaki 900. They led from the start and averaged about two minutes a lap. Charlie Coy, a New Hampshire resident, won a special “Vintage Race,” for motorcycles at least ten years old, on his 500 cc single-stroke Manx, a relic from the early 1950s. He averaged 2:19 for each lap. Competitors traveled from as far away as North Carolina and Maine for the three-day event. Steve Bromley Jr. A Quick Start It’s the same thing every year for the East Hampton High School golf team, according to Coach Steve Marley. “School starts,” he said, “we get a couple of days of practice, and bang, we start firing away.” The Bonackers have their first match Monday, at River- head. Last year, Bonac finished 10-4, tied with Shelter Island and Southampton for second-place behind League champion Westhampton’s 12-2. Grad uation losses for the local golfers were minimal: Jon Reed, a steady number five, has gone on to college. Lou Agudo Jr. played last season at the number three and four positions, compiling a winning record, but the junior is out for soccer this fall. Marley thought he might have a promising freshman, John Capozzola, who had a fine summer of local competition, but he will attend Mercy High in River- head, which did not have a golf team last year. “You always hope for some fresh new face each year to give you added depth,” Marley explained, “but I guess we’re not that lucky this fall. A few years ago, one of the League teams had two brothers show up on the first day of practice, both with five handicaps; that’s always a pleasant surprise.” Ready Bonac, even without the last-minute appearance of a young Jack Nicklaus, seems to be quite deep and ready to battle the League favorite, Shelter Island, and the always-strong South ampton and Westhampton entries, for the title. E.J. Pospisil, a senior, is returning with his low handicap, three years’ experience, and the Montauk Golf and Racquet Club title he won this summer; he will probably play number one again. He missed qualifying for the Eisenhower Tournament earlier in the summer by a single stroke. The annual competition attracts the metropolitan area’s top male golfers. Don Clause is another returning senior who has also had a busy, successful summer. He was the runner- up in an all-Long Island summer tournament for boys 18 and under, which advanced him to State-wide competition in Rochester, where he placed tenth in the State out of 50 entrants. Clause will battle Pospisil for the number one spot; the loser may play number three. All coaches in the League manipulate their lineups to win as many points as possible. Sam Joyce is another senior veteran returning. He played number two last year, and Marley indicated that he may play number five this season, “If he’s improved enough.” Dave Bock Jr., a freshman, who played number six last year with a winning record, is also back. Good Amount “That’s four right there,” Marley said, “with a good amount of exper ience. We’ll also have Bruce Bates and Harry Field back, they’re both sophomores who played some last year. So we’ve got the depth.” Marley tabs Shelter Island as the favorite. The schedule does Bonac a few favors by starting off with River- head, a weak team, followed by Sag Harbor, which placed fifth in the League last season before surprising everyone by taking the team title in the League tournament. Marley calls the Whalers “no pushovers,” but is glad the second-week list of opponents, Shelter Island and Southampton, are not a part of the “cobweb clearing” opening week. The League has one new team, Mattituck, which is switching from spring golf, making for nine schools (including Bridgehampton and Port Jefferson). Marley explained that the most difficult aspect of golf for the high school athlete is “the competitive experience, going head-to-head.” Most players, he said, have plenty of experience golfing alone. It’s the quieting of nerves while the golfer Softball Stats Harbor Golf plays essentially two matches that must be mastered. “I’m amazed at some of these kids, being able to hop off the bus,” the Coach said, “tee up and whack the ball, and in front of 20 people. I have rarely seen someone miss a shot, which I’m sure I’d do all the time. And don’t forget, the kids are going one-on-one, match play, plus shooting for best ball in their foursome; that’s pressure.” Short Greens Bonac plays its home matches at the South Fork Country Club in Amagan- sett, a nine-hole, par-36 course that is famous for its short, tight greens. All League matches cover just nine holes. “We really are at the mercy of the individual greenskeepers around the League. Just about all the teams play at private clubs, like we do,” Marley explained, “and at South Fork it takes a lot of accuracy to get on the greens and stay there. Southampton is noted for its fast greens, that’s the South ampton Golf Club, our kids have putting problems there, and Riverhead has greens that usually haven’t been cut in four or five days, so it’s like playing croquet. I guess the greens are the keys just about everywhere, so it makes your home-course advantage, knowing the ins and outs, pretty important.” Marley has coached the Bonac golf team for the last seven years with Bill Barnett, who had a total of 12 years with the varsity until this season. Barnett is involved with an advanced placement math program (he is the department chairman at the High School), and may not have the time he has had in previous seasons. Marley could not recall the last time East Hampton had a losing golf team. “Bill wants to get out there, if he has any time at all,” Marley added. While the students compete, the coaches also have their little compe tition, and Marley believes Sag Harbor’s Bob Vishno is the coach to beat. “He’s definitely the toughest, he is every year,” the Coach offered, adding that the new Mattituck entry may have a ringer of a mentor, Jack Hussnatter, a club champion on the North Fork as well as a former Eisenhower tournament qualifier a few years ago. Bonac’s first important home match is Tuesday, Sept. 20, against power house Shelter Island. Play begins at 3:30 p.m. Steve Bromley Jr. Montauk Improvement, East Hampton Men's Softball League champions for the third year in a row, compiled an impressive list of statistics during the League playoffs, which it won handily in six games. Charlie Ecker, the loop’s official scorekeeper, compiled the team and individual figures. They reflect Montauk’s con sistent superiority during the playoffs. In those six games, two to defeat Bucket’s in the semifinals and four in the final to stop Schenck’s, 3-1, Improvement hit at a .533 clip, 131 hits in 246 attempts. Schenck’s, which played nine games, scored 119 runs, followed by Montauk’s 106, and Bucket’s 52. Schenck’s hit .421, 144 for 342 at-bats, while Bucket’s, in five games, was 78 for 186, a .419 average. Montauk hit 32 home runs in its six games; Schenck’s belted 22 in its nine contests, and Diamond’s had 14 homers in three games. Nicoletti’s .739 Individually, Montauk’s Robbie Nicoletti hit .739, 17 hits in 26 at-bats, with five home runs and 19 runs- batted-in. His teammate, Wayne Grothe, had the second-best average, Thirty Classes, Sixteen Races . 666 , on 14 for 21 hitting, and Larry Payne, Schenck’s fine outfielder, hit .657, 23 for 35, and led in homers with ten, runs scored (24), hits (23), and tied for the RBI lead with John Farina, teammate, who equalled his total of 23. Bill Gale, also of Schenck’s, hit .611 (22 for 36), for the second-highest hit total, and was tied for second in runs scored with his teammate, Hugh King, both of whom had 19. Gale had 14 RBIs. Improvement’s Frank Ruppel was 14 for 23, .609, with five homers and 16 RBIs; Schenck’s Len Bernard also had 16 RBIs. Barry Raebeck, who returned for the champions just in time for the playoffs, hit .607 (17 for 28), scored 14 runs, drove in 14, and hit seven round- trippers to tie for second with Steve Wilson, a teammate. Wilson was up just 12 times in the playoffs, collecting 11 hits in only three games for a .917 average. Other softball league playoff commit ments limited his appearances until the final round. Mark Williams, another performer for Schenck’s picked up 17 hits during the playoffs. Steve Bromley Jr. Still Looking Despite an austerity-budget situa tion in its School District, Riverhead High School will field a full measure of varsity sports teams for the fall season. This means that East Hampton High School’s planned non-League football game Sept. 24 has gone by the boards. The Bonackers were scheduled to play William Floyd High School of Mastic Beach that day if Riverhead, Floyd’s original opponent, did not muster financial support for its teams. Dick Cooney, head football coach for the Bonackers, will attend a coaches’ meeting tonight in Lake Ronkonkoma, trying to sort out rumors and the East Hampton schedule. “I’ve heard rumors,” he explained, “that maybe 16 schools in the County are on austerity; I don’t know what the correct figure is, but there should be plenty of teams at the meeting looking for a game the 24th. I’m going to make a general announcement about needing a game. I hope we’ll get one, I’m still optimistic.” Cooney said he believed the River head Booster Club had rounded up the necessary funds to support all fall varsity sports; there will be no Blue Wave junior varsity or freshmen squads this autumn, just varsity girls' and boys’ teams. Usually, Cooney advised, scheduling is done a year in advance, but the larger than expected number of austerity budgets has created chaos that will be resolved by late tonight. A State law requires that all schools declare their schedule at least seven days prior to the first regular-season contest, which for most teams will be Sept. 24, making time a vital consider ation. Once the first-game date is set, football teams will have a clear practice-schedule picture, aiming for opening day on September’s last Saturday, or, if the fates supply no luck, on October’s first Saturday. Steve Bromley Jr. Rugby Tryouts The Montauk Rugby Football Club is holding open tryouts and practices every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evenings, from 5:30 to 7:30, at the Herrick Playground in East Hampton. The team currently has 25 men on its roster, and is seeking an additional ten players, no experience necessary. Montauk’s first game of the fall season will be Saturday, Sept. 17, at home against the strong Manhattan Rugby Football Club. The ruggers will play an eight-game autumn schedule, finishing the season with participation in the Manhattan “Sevens” Rugby tournament. Rugby is usually played with 15 on a side, except for the “Sevens” competition, which employs just seven players per team. The local rugby club will play a Steve Bromley Jr. double-header Sept. 17. The second game will feature another Montauk unit battling New York’s Les Vieux. If plans develop, many of Montauk’s season dates will be doubleheaders, once a full 35-man roster is assembled. In competition last spring in the Metropolitan Rugby Football League, Montauk’s 7-1 record won the third division title, which includes all of Long Island. When the spring season rolls around again, Montauk will be elevated into the more competitive division two. S.B. Jr. President Thomas Jefferson ART EXHIBIT of The Return of Richard Nixon and Yitzhak Rabin PARTICIPATING ARTISTS WANTED Paintings • Drawings Sketches • Photographs SEE AD IN NEXT WEEK’S STAR Bob Vishno, Sag Harbor’s athletic director, is looking ahead cautiously at the prospects for his High School golf team, which took an upset victory in the all-League tournament at the Montauk Golf and Racquet Club last year. Gone from last year’s team are the Whaler’s first three golfers, Jim Van Kovics, Bob Falborn, and Matt Schiavoni, as well as a reserve, Bill Wilson, but Vishno’s basically young team may still be a force to be reckoned with. What happened the day of that tournament, Coach Vishno explained, was that Sag Harbor was more consistent than some of the better players on other teams who got discouraged by high winds. The Whalers finished fifth in 1976, 6 - 8 , before sweeping the tournament. Returning Ken Jacobsen, Pete Schaefer, and Rich Egosi are three of Vishno’s returning letter men; the Coach figures the trio will form, in some combination, his top three golfers to replace the departed seniors. Jeff Smith is the fourth returning letterman, hoping to improve last year’s 0-6 record. New faces include Marshall Garypie III, son of the golf coach at Southampton High School, Steve Conte, son of the pro at the Noyac Golf and Country Club, and Vin Battapaglia, Steve Stuckert, Tom Allen, and Mike Vacca. Conte is one of the relatively few athletes who may have five years of high-school eligibility. An eighth- grader, he must receive special dispen sation from the State, which decides such things. According to recent law, any New York athlete may move up to a freshman, junior varsity, or varsity sport after meeting performance re quirements in a battery of screening tests which determine maturity, fit ness, agility, speed, strength, and endurance. Then, the candidate must present a kind of letter of recommenda tion from a physician that states the youngster is capable of higher-level competition. “Steve has all the skills,” Vishno said, “although he only weighs about 78 pounds.” Conte, Smith, and Garypie seem to have the edge at the moment to fill in the final three spots on the Whaler golf team, although if Battapaglia and Stuckert worked on their games successfully over the summer, the pair might make for an interesting scramble before Monday’s season opener against Mattituck at the Noyac Club, where the Whalers play all their home matches. The Noyac course is 18 holes and about 7,200 yards; the Harbor team uses the front nine. Vishno calls the layout “long and narrow, carved out of the woods,” and adds, “you lose balls easily.” How will Sag Harbor fare this season? Will it be a repetition of last year’s under .500 squad, with a surprise in the League tourney? Vishno says it’s too early to tell. In no particular order, Shelter Island, South ampton, East Hampton, and West Hampton figure to be the class of the League. Steve Bromley Jr.
